The Road to Hell
by stephanie
Summary: chloe and clark face her deal with the luthers and clarks bad boy days in the big city


i don't own. don't claim too. just for fun.

The Road to Hell  
  
Dealing with the devil was never a good idea. She knew that now. And now, without Lex's protection, she was screwed. She could deal with her father losing his job, with losing her Daily Planet Column. She could even deal with losing all of her friends, Lana, Pete... Clark. She'd even gotten over the whole 'Kill Chloe' incident. If she was dead then he couldn't hurt anyone else.  
He also couldn't tell if she was dead. And if he told Clark, it would kill him. When she'd pulled the guilt card, she'd seen it flash in his eyes. The memory. She felt little sympathy for him. Whatever his damage had been, it was in the past. She hadn't said no. She was a willing participant. Sure, it wasn't what she'd imagined. Up against a brick wall in a dark alley that rank of urine and vomit was not the place she envisioned losing her virginity, even if it was with Clark. No, not Clark, Kal. Lex hadn't been there then either. His father had taken care of the consequences of that. But he hadn't known who else it involved. But now he did. The noose was tightening. Clark would never forgive her. Add one to the 'stupid decisions of Chloe column.'  
When Lex got his memory back, things went from bad to worse. Realizing that there was something about Clark, something that Lionel thought she knew almost drove him over the edge...again.  
Lex had cornered her late in the afternoon, in the Torch's office. She had been putting some finishing touches on the next edition when she felt a presence behind her. Recognizing her dad's former boss, she relaxed.  
"Sorry, still a little jumpy from the 'Kill Chloe brainwashing incident'." Her next comment was lost as Lex's hand closed around her arm. He roughly pulled her to her feet, forcing her up against the Wall of Weird.  
"Lex...what..."  
"Why isn't he on this wall, Chloe?"  
"What are you talking about?"  
"Clark! What, he fucks you and he gets a 'get out of jail free' card? I remember what I saw, Chloe!" He tightened his grip. "What is Clark Kent?"  
Chloe did the first thing she could think of. She spit in his face. In retrospect, not her brightest move, but lately, nothing had been. She was just so damn tired of it all.  
She didn't expect the blow, but she should have. She tasted blood and her cheekbone throbbed. Her head collided with the wall as he slammed her back into her meteor scrapbook.  
"I would never do that again, Miss Sullivan."  
He released her, taking a silk handkerchief from his pocket, dabbing at his face. "You have 24hrs to come to me with all the information you have on Clark Kent."  
"And if I don't?"  
He smirked. Leaning in, he whispered into her ear. "We wouldn't want our mutual friend to find certain medical records, now would we?"  
Chloe's breath caught in her throat.  
Lex paused in the doorway. "By the way, Chloe," she shuddered at the threat he put in her name. "I wouldn't go running to my father with this. We wouldn't want anything to happen to your father now would we." Then he was gone.  
Chloe stood frozen for a second. Then she lunged for her phone. It ran twenty times before she finally hung up.  
It was past midnight when Chloe reached the Kent farm. She had to warn them; no one else should have to die. No one else except Chloe Sullivan.  
She had banged on the door for fifteen minutes before the porch light snapped on. She nearly fell into Jonathan Kent's arms when he opened the door. She was bordering on hysterical. She felt Martha's arms go around her. She shook loose. What she had done to these people, she didn't deserve their help.  
"Chloe, sweetheart, what's wrong? What happened?" Martha was trying to calm the sobbing girl down.  
"I'm so sorry Mrs. Kent! I didn't think it would go this far. I tried to stop it. He was just going to destroy my life! That was OK! But Lex..."  
Jonathan's eyes narrowed. "Did he do this to you?"  
Chloe's hand flew to her face. She'd forgotten.  
"Jonathan, go get Clark."  
"Martha, if Luther..."  
"Not now, Jonathan, just go get your son." Chloe was looking at the blood on her hands. How appropriate.  
"Chloe."  
It was from her nose.  
"Chloe!"  
She focused on the woman in front of her.  
"Sweetheart, did whoever did this do anything else? Chloe, honey, did...were..."  
She shook her head.  
Martha wrapped the trembling girl in her arms. "What happened?"  
"I didn't know. He's worse than his father."  
"Chloe!" Clark bounded down the stairs, screeching to a halt in front of the huddled forms of his mother and his best friend.  
Chloe burst into fresh tears, flinging herself into his arms, telling herself it would probably be for the last time.  
"He got his memory back! He wanted everything I had! He said you should be on the Wall! He killed him!"  
Clark caught her face in his hands, wincing at the sight of it. Chloe was hyperventilating.  
"Chloe what happened! I can't help you if you don't tell me!"  
She laughed bitterly. "The devil took my soul."  
"Lionel."  
She shook her head. "He already destroyed me."  
"Lex."  
Chloe took a shuttering breath. "He remembers. He knows about you, Clark. Not everything or he wouldn't want the information that he thinks I have."  
"What does he know, Chloe?" Martha's voice soothed from behind.  
"That Clark can do things other people can't."  
Clark exhaled. "What else?"  
"Nothing. Lionel doesn't either. I didn't give him anything." She reached out and touched Clark's cheek. "Lex thinks he knows. He can't get the information from him without letting his father know he remembers"  
"Lex remembers everything?" Clark could sense his parents worried glances. "Even to protect you from Lionel?"  
"Clark, he doesn't need to protect me from Lionel anymore."  
"Go to Lionel."  
"I can't." Chloe's eyes glazed over for a second. She shook her head. "You have to be extra careful Clark. He's watching. I burned everything and I never told what they didn't know."  
"Lex is the one who hit you?"  
Chloe nodded. Clark's jaw clenched.  
"You're going to leave it alone, Clark. "An eerie calm settled over Chloe's demeanor. "You're going to watch your back and let this go. You and your parents are going to pretend you don't know any of this and stay safe."  
"Chloe, he can't just do this..."  
"He already did Clark!" She scooted away, out of his grip, out of Martha's. They needed to hate her. It would be easier that way. "But it's not the first time it got rough with a wall, is it?"  
Clark's sorrow almost killed her. She didn't think her heart could break anymore. She was wrong.  
"Chloe..."  
"He paid to get rid of it, you know. Lionel. He didn't know it was you. Same guy Lex's girls went to."  
  
"What did you do?"  
"I killed it, Clark. Because it was you, I killed it."  
She didn't expect it from Clark. But she should have. She could deal with guilt and hurt but disgust and hate. The hate is what did it. She ran. Out the Kent's door and into the fields. She didn't look back.  
Martha was near panic. Between keeping both her husband and her son calm, she wasn't able to process much.  
Jonathan was ranting about Lionel and Lex and the evil of all things Luther. Martha tuned him out. Clark was staring at the spot were Chloe had been. He focused on his hand. It was covered in blood. He shot out the door. "Chloe!" But she was gone.  
"Clark!" Martha caught her son's arm. "What's going on?"  
Clark swallowed. "Not now, Mom. I promise I'll explain everything after I find Chloe. Just stay here."  
"Clark call the police!"  
He shook his head. "He'll kill her."  
Clark returned at dawn, without Chloe. His parents were at the kitchen table.  
"She's gone." "Clark, honey what's going on?"  
Clark dropped into a chair, burying his head in his hands. He began. "The day after Lex's wedding, Lionel approached Chloe. She gets a Daily Planet column if she feeds him information on me. She took it."  
"What!" Jonathan Kent exploded out of his chair. "She did what?!"  
"She didn't tell him anything he didn't know, Dad! She wanted to know what he thought he had! She was trying to deflect him!"  
"Jonathan, calm down! Clark, how long have you known about this?"  
"Since I lost my vision."  
"And you're just now telling us? Clark..."  
"Mom, I owed her that. After Metropolis, I owed her a lot more than keeping peoples good opinion of her."  
"What happened in Metropolis Clark?"  
Clark couldn't meet his mother's eyes. "She found me in a club..."  
  
_She didn't see him. For some one who wanted to be a journalist, she was remarkable unobservant tonight. She was also remarkable underdressed for Chloe. Literally. She was dancing with her eyes closed. He slid up to her, hands snaking around her hips, drawing her body back into his. He ground into her, one hand staying on her hip, the other creeping up her stomach, teasing the underside of her breast. She whirled around, ready to tell off whoever was groping her. Her outrage died on her lips as she recognized him. He grinned evilly, drawing her closer, grinding into her hips, bending to catch her mouth with his. Her surprised silent 'oh' allowed his tongue easy access to invade her mouth. By the time she regained the ability to think, he had maneuvered them to a fire exit. She managed to break away from his mouth just as she felt the rough brick up against her back. Oh, ouch, Ok, so the backless top was not a good idea. 'Clark' she gasped, 'what..' her voice tailed off as he lifted her, forcing his leg between hers, lifting her off her feet, her arms and legs wrapping around him so she wouldn't fall. The things that boy was doing with his mouth should be illegal. Even that thought left as she felt his hand between her thighs. She knew she should be outraged as he pushed her skirt up and her panties aside. She should be clawing his face and not his back as his hand slipped between them. She should scream and not moan as he fondled her breast. Somehow, he had bared all her essential parts without dropping her on the urine, vomit soaked alley. She didn't even cry when he thrust into her. She cried when it was over. After he told her, smugly, that he hadn't expected her to be a virgin. When he dropped her and sneered. When he grabbed her roughly by the neck and whispered in her ear, not love, but the treat to run again, she cried. When he'd nearly hit her in his apartment she'd cried.  
_  
Clark paused, swallowed. "She was at this club and we..." Jonathan held up his hand. "We get it, Clark." Martha caught her son's hand. "Did you know..." He shook his head. "We never talked about Metropolis." The phone rang. Clark, sensing an escape, answered it. "Lana, slow down...what...Lana..." Clark dropped the phone. "Clark?" "Mr. Sullivan's dead."  
  
Chloe wasn't at her father's funeral. Lana had stood in her place, Nell at her side, watching the coffin sink into the ground. Clark was nearly vibrating with pent up anger, watching Lex pretend to mourn. He was convinced the man had something to do with Gabe's death. Clark didn't believe it was a suicide for one minute. Chloe was officially listed as a runaway. The Kents had tried everything they could think of. Clark had even gone by her cousin's dorm. No one had seen her. It was easy to disappear in Metropolis. Chloe supposed she could have gone to New York or LA and disappeared just as well, but it was too far away from the little family she had left. It killed her not to be at her father's funeral. But it was safer if she wasn't. When Lois got married and moved to London, Chloe went with her. On a separate flight. Lois thought she was being paranoid. Chloe told her she was just being safe. The Luthers made the news across the puddle too. Chloe shivered when she'd heard of Lionel Luther's death. Lex probably offed him. She wouldn't have been surprised. Not much surprised Chloe anymore. When Lex sold the Daily Planet, Chloe got here chance. Lois Lane worked for the Daily Planet. She'd had articles published there before, when she was in college. Unfortunately, the editor who had published them had died shortly thereafter. No one at the Planet remembered her. That was fine with Lois. Lois Lane had come to the Planet with one purpose. To take down Lex Luther. She'd never forgiven him for what had happened to Gabe Sullivan. She'd never forgiven herself either. It was her focus. To make Lex pay.  
  
Lois was on the phone with her cousin when her new partner showed up. Trans Atlantic calls were a bitch to time. Her cousin was filling her in on the baby's new words and the girls 'sports games when she heard Lois swear. "Ch...Honey, what is it?" "Clark Kent just walked in." "Don't make eye contact." "Shit, he's walking this way. Lo, I'll call you back." She quickly hung up. He stood in front of her, in a ridiculous suit and glasses, looking ever the part of the Smallville boy. "I'm Clark Kent." She glared. "You're new partner." There was a mocking resentful tone behind his cheery fake words. "Lois Lane." He raised an eyebrow. "You write about Superman." She raised an eyebrow. "We all have our obsessions, Clark Kent. I have two. A man in blue spandex and a bald billionaire." "Taking on Lex Luther is dangerous and stupid." She snorted. "Have a falling out with him?" "You could say that. He destroyed one of my friends." "Who?" "Chloe Sullivan." "Never heard of her."  
  
Clark had to give her credit. 'Lois Lane' had an incredible poker face. She could lie like a pro. She didn't used to be that good at it. Lionel and Lex had taught her well. Lois was also very good at playing dumb. 'Didn't know who Superman was my ass.' When he'd questioned her, she'd denied any knowledge of the super hero's true identity. But Clark Kent wasn't stupid. 'Lois' still had a wall of weird. It was just all filed in her head and focused at one thing. Him. He had to stop her from killing Lex once. They'd stood in the pouring rain, Superman gripping her arm as she struggled to go after the man. The man who had been cocky enough to turn his back on her. Clark had to scream at her using her name before she broke out of the near hysterical rage she was swallowed in. "Chloe, it won't bring him back! Murdering him will not bring back your father!" "Shut the hell up, Clark! What the fuck to you know! He deserves to die!" They stared at each other, the rain cascading in sheets around them. They were soaked to core. Lois Lane and Superman didn't move. Their words hung in the air, along with their alter egos. Two people who really didn't exist glaring at each other in the middle of a deluge. He reached out to her and suddenly she was in his arms. All those years after he'd chased after her in the night, through the cornfields, he'd finally found Chloe Sullivan. He'd found her and she'd found his secret. There were no more lies, no more pretending they didn't see the obvious signs. Glasses and hair dye were not adequate disguises. The rain stopped and the sun peaked out of the clouds. It was then that she realized she was flying. Chloe laughed. Clark had gotten over his fear of hieghts. They always said the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. What they'd failed to mention is that it came back out again.


End file.
